After all these years, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has still never had a losing season.
But a 28-14 victory over Cleveland on Sunday was not enough to get Pittsburgh into the postseason.
Because the Dolphins beat the Jets 11-6, the Steelers were eliminated from playoff contention just before their game against the Browns ended.
To that point, Pittsburgh had done everything possible to put itself in the best position possible to advance. While the club got down 7-0 early on, the Steelers then ripped off 20 straight points to go up 20-7 late in the third quarter.
While Nick Chubb got the Browns in the end zone again with a 2-yard touchdown catch, fullback Derek Watt put the game out of reach with his 1-yard touchdown with 4:37 left in the contest. Diontae Johnson caught a two-point conversion from Kenny Pickett to make the score 28-14.
Pickett finished the last game of his rookie season 13-of-289 for 195 yards with a touchdown. George Pickens had three catches for 72 yards with a TD.
Najee Harris also had 84 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown, though he arguably should’ve had another. Tomlin didn’t challenge a play where Harris was ruled down short of the goal line but replay showed he kept his knee up before breaking the plane.
Defensively, the Steelers sacked quarterback Deshaun Watson seven times. Alex Highsmith led the way with 2.5 sacks and another two tackles for loss.
Watson finished 19-of-29 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and two picks. He also rushed six times for 44 yards.
With 12 carries for 77 yards, Chubb became just the second Browns player to ever eclipse 1,500 yards rushing in a season. Hall of Famer Jim Brown accomplished the feat three times in his career.
The Browns finish the season 7-10 and are expected to make at least some changes to their assistant coaches in the offseason.
By finishing 9-8, the Steelers will at least have some positive vibes heading into the offseason. With Pickett on the rise, they should continue to be competitive in 2023.
